Cylindrical Projection
Conic Projection
Plane Projection
A plane projection is created by placing an imaginary screen directly above or below a globe. The image that would result is called a plane projection. This type of map projection is not commonly used.
Interrupted Projection
There are many different types of interrupted projection maps. These types of maps try to depict the continents as accurately as possible by leaving blank space in the less important areas of the map, such as in the oceans.
Shape Versus Size – Conformality Versus Equivalency
Each of the map projections previously discussed as well as any other type of map projection must consider two important factors. What is more important, depicting the accurate sizes of objects on the map, or depicting accurate shapes of these objects? The challenge is that you cannot have both. The more accurately you depict shape, the less accurate will be your depiction of size, and vice versa.
A map which portrays shape accurately is called a conformal map. Conformal maps are useful in that they help us understand the true shape of the items on the map. However, these maps have many drawbacks. A conformal map tends to get quite distorted, especially towards the top and bottom of the map. This creates problems with scale. The scale may be accurate near the equator, but the further one travels form the equator, the less accurate the scale becomes.
Hybrid Maps
Many maps are neither entirely conformal nor entirely equivalent. By blending both conformality and equivalency, we can create a map that balances the distortion of both size and shape.
Isolines
In Geography, it is often necessary to describe distributions on a map. Let's consider an example that most of us are familiar with. Have you ever watched the weather report on your local nightly news? One of the important jobs of a meteorologist, or weatherman / weatherwoman, is to show their viewers the distribution of temperatures.